Quenching device for quenching the ends of abutting rails in a track joint



Jan. 16, 1951 D. G. KERWIN 2,538,355

Y QUENCHING DEVICE EOE QUENCHING THE ENDS 0E BUTTING RAILS IN A TRACKJOINT Filed July 20, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l .CJOKL WMELMM Jan. 16, 19512,538,366

D. G. KERWIN QUENCHING DEVICE FOR QUENCHING THE ENDS OF' ABUTTING RAILSIN A TRACK JOINT 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 20, 1945 l INVENTOR.afzje/' /efzazz Patented Jan. 16, 1951 QUENCHING-DEVICE FORQUENCHING THEENDS 0F ABUT'IING RAILS.. IN A QTRACK MJ OINT Daniel G. Kenwin; Chicago,Ill.,:assignor toI Weld- .ingservica 1Inc.;ChicagoIll.,fa corporation;ofy

-K California Application 31115120; 1945;,'SerialNo.` 606,242

1 -This inventionl relates-to quenching apparatus usedl in rail endhardening.

Inf the performance of thequenching step in a rail endhardening processperformed Vonlaloutting rail ends lying in track, it is necessaryto'liow equalquantities of i water concurrently inopposite directions'from the rail joint for a selected periodfof time. The principal objectoi'this invention is-to provide a nozzle and companion equipment thatwllprovide such allow.

A secondobject of this invention is to combine in a single waterboxdesigned to span a trackrail jointfa centrally` positioned opposeddirection `lnozzle l while at the Sametime preventing substantial lossof fluid through the gap betweenf the tWo rail ends. Inexisting'practiee, two spaced- Water boxes have been used, see Figure-6`of U. S. Patent No. 2,070,889 to Frickey, dated'February-l, 1937. vThegasketthat provides'the=seal between the inside of the waterboX and thetop of the rail, numbered-61 inthe same gure, prevents the' ow of'cooling fluid to the Avery tips of therafil, and there has been asuggestion thatfthe desiredhardness 'has not beenattainedat these pointsof the-rail tread. In the present invention, a single water fboxwith acontinuous seal or packing around its-lower periphery is used and meansare provided *for substantially blocking the flow of fluid through theopening between the railends.

Anothervobject of this invention is to relate theY adapter frame (whichitself is old in the art, see Fig. 1 of Frickey patent, 2,143,347) toaccommodate the rail end quencher to various sizes of rails and to anassociated opposed directional nozzle. Each sizeadapter carries guidesfor a nozzle suitable for use on a rail of a given size.

Another object of this invention. is to hold the quenching apparatustightly tothe railduring the performance of the quenching step. Theprocess invention4 contemplates the ilo-wing of uid onto the rail atcomparatively high ,pressure, and thiswiththe effects of :steamformation causes undesirable vibration and movement of thewaterbox.Features'of this apparatus are magnets for holding the waterbox tightlytothe rail during the quenching step.

Another object of this linvention is to enable the operator to center zthe directional nozzle directly over the opening. between the rail endsby feel rather than observation. One of the features of the invention isthe mounting of a downwardly kdirected wedge on the bottom of the nozzleand transversely tothe rail length.

IByV setting the: lquencher. on .they two rail :endsl -2 andmovingit-longitudinally until the wedge uropsinto-the gapebetween'itherailA ends, the

operator can exactly-center the quencher over the joint withoutlgettingdownon his 4hands and knees: for vvisualeexamination.

i There-.are other features which will appear in the` description-thatfollows. lThe invention is Villustratedv inA twof-sheets of drawingscomprising the following gures:

EFigure 1 is a side yelevation ofthe quencher;

Figurel 2v is. an end y elevation thereof;

"Fig-ure' A3' Ais .along-itudinal sectional View ofv the quencher;

Figure'll` isv a transverse, sectional viewtaken on the linen-L4oflFigurel;

Figure 5 isfa View of :a portion .off the top of the adapter .frameshowing its relationship tothe nozzle and taken' onrapproximately theline' 5-5 of i Eig-ure 3;

A`Figure'-6is1an enlargementof `one faceof the nozzle; and

Figure?? is anfenlargement-.of the nozzle showingthe use ofztheapositioning wedge.

Continuing" toi refer A.to the drawings,and particularlytoFigure 1,thenumeral I0 generally identities a rail joint inv track and thiscomprises a. pair. ofabutting ra'il ends I2 and ill heldtogetherbyjointbars .alii and `litogetlfier with suitable!boltscsuchfas nuts and :boltsIt. The numerals 2t andi 22 f identifythe :respective rail ballswwhile4the-,numerals 24. and25 identify the rail.' treads. Between'theftworail balls isa Agap 28 whichrvaries `in size from more'than oneeighthof'an inch in cold weather to nothing whenthel rails arenushengagementin eX- ceedinglyi vhot sweather. @Applicants quent-herv is ordinarily.`usedfon rails into which-are cut' the lcClary notchP-:seelniuneral2i inFigur-cl2 of ReissuePatent 2fl8387,A dated March 15, 1932 to.A.'-ii/rMcllary. Thisxnotch -is 'illustrated by thesloping::walls:28.iand ilin Figure 7. The notcheszactuallyused today arenot quiteas large asthose illustrated-Lin theiMcClary patent.

Applicants quencher consists of a frame 232 made @of sa :noneconductivematerial `such as aluminium, and 1intoithez,toprof this 'are `cut threecircular openings 34, .3e-.and 38, Areferring to Figure 3.#,Thezframeg32 carriesfat either end` two. uprightzmembersrzfd .and i12connected.by.f a handlel. Theiframe is supported. on the: rail' -by twomagnets, each of. .,vyfhicli, kreferring .to

Eigurefl istseenffto :comprise `twofpole pieces itt and disconnected Abyaiico'il 50. mounted -on a core E tially tangent to the line on the railball which each pole piece would normally engage. The bottoms of thesetwo pole members 46 and 48 may be shaped transversely of the rail alonga curve conforming to the top transverse cross section of the rail, butthe flat tangential :11rfacing is easier and about as effective. Thepole pieces are fastened to the non-magnetic frame member 32 by boltssuch as 53.

Returning to Figure 3, 54 identies a water box which is suspended fromthe frame 32 by four bolts 56, 58 and 60, the fourth bolt not appearingin any figure. These four bolts have a slide fit in the frame 32 so thatthe water box may be reciprocated vertically with respect to the frame.A spring such as 62 positioned around each of these bolts, thrusts thewater box E4 downwardly away from the frame 32. Mounted at each insideend of the water box is an outlet pipe, being 64 and 66, each of whichcarries a check valve 68. These outlet pipes Vare rigidly xed in thewater box so that their bottoms are in approximately the plane thatpasses through an adapter frame l0, shortly to be described. The twooutlet pipes project upwardly through the openings 34 and 38 in theframe member and have connected to their upper ends flexible deliverylines 12 and 14 which lead to a circulatory pump.

Centrally of the top of the water box is an opening 'I6 in which ismounted an inlet pipe 'I8 which carries a shoulder 80. This shoulderlimits downward movement of the pipe, the pipe having a slide t in theopening |6. The bottom of the pipe 18 is threaded (see Fig. '7) and toit is attached a small box, which will be referred to herein as thenozzle 82. The nozzle 82 is oblong in shape with a central chamber 84.An elongated downwardly directed passageway 86 opens into a horizontalpassageway 88, see also Figures 4 and 6. Transversely of the bottom ofthe nozzle 82 is a wedge 9D, see Figure 7, which has on each side of itsubstantially horizontal shoulders 92 and 94. These horizontal shouldersare important in that they hold the delivery openings 96 and 98 at aselected point above the rail, it being desirable to cool the tip of therail a little less decisively than the adjacent portions. What isdesired is a rail tip a little harder than what is obtained where thepacking (see numeral 61 of Figs. 6 and 7 of Frickey et al., No.2,070,889) rests on the tip and prevents any substantial flow of uidthereagainst and the other extreme of flowing the fluid directly ontothe rail tip which, because it has a smaller adjacent portion from whichto withdraw heat than other parts of the rail ball, becomes excessivelyhard. But for the horizontal shoulders 92 and 94, in the case of a jointwhere the rails are widely separated and this Separation is accentuatedat the tread by the McClary notch, the nozzle might drop well down in sothat the discharge openings 96 and 98 would flow directly onto the railtips.

Returning to Figure 3, a spring urges the nozzle downwardly so that whenthe quencher is lifted clear of the rail, the shoulder 80 will engagethe top of the water box. The upper end of the inlet pipe 18 projectsthrough the opening 36 in the frame 32 and has connected thereto aflexible water-oil delivery line |02.

Continuing to refer to Figure 3, fastened to the bottom of the water box54 is an adapter frame 'l0 which is held in position by bolts such as|06. Directed downwardly from the adapter frame 10 is a perimetricpacking gland or seal |08 which, referring to Figure 6, embracessubstantially the entire tread of the rail. Returning to Figure 3,interiorly of the adapter frame 'I0 are two sets of shoulders, the firstset bearing numerals ||0 and ||2, and now referring to Figure 5, thesecond set bearing numerals ||4 and ||6. These shoulders are adapted toprovide a loose t for vertical movement of the nozzle 82, so that theadapter frame cooperates with the water box 54 to maintain the nozzle 82in proper position. 'I'his is to be contrasted with the arrangementillustrated in Frickey Patent No. 2,143,347 where the incoming uid isdropped from the top of the box so that it flows onto the rail and thereis no need for exactly positioning the delivery nozzle with respect tothe rail.

The perimetric seal |08 should close for a given sized rail just thatarea which experience has demonstrated produces the desired hardnessgradient by the use of the particular equipment. Over or under heatingand over or under quenching for comparatively small portions of time, amatter of seconds, may produce an unwanted hardness gradient. It hasbeen found desirable to maintain proportionate the areas of the railball treads that are actually quenched with water-oil for respectivesizes of rails. For this reason, the adapter frames are of varioussizes,

and because it is desirable to flow the sheet of` water-oil away fromthe rail end for substantially the full width of the ball tread,applicant provides a nozzle having a width proportionate to the width ofthe rail ball, with complementary guide elements in the adapter frames,

Referring to Figure 6, it will be appreciated that there will be certainleakage of uid down into the gap between the rail ends at a point suchas II8. The wedge 90 together with the associated shoulders 92 and 94,see Figure 7, stops much of this, but in actual use the generation ofsteam seems to assist the applicant in obtaining the low loss of fluidthat is desired. At the point ||8, the fluid is a recirculated fluidwhich has either owed back of the sides of the stream coming out of theopening 88 or back over the top of it. It has been considerably heatedand when it reaches the very hot partof the rail adjacent the edge itforms a steam which tends to keep the liquid itself in the box.

It is important to understand that this apparatus operates withcomparatively little wateroil in the box 54. Whereas existing equipmentquite frequently operates with the box nearly full, it is intended thatthe fast moving streams do a great deal of the cooling here and that thecooling eiect be graduated downwardly from the` rail end inverselyproportional with the rising temperature of the cooling stream as itmoves,

toward the two outlets 64 and 66.

It will be appreciated that the above structure obtains the major objectof this invention because it uses a single inlet pipe which delivers theflow into a single collection chamber 84, from which leads the deliveryopening 86 which in turn divides into the two delivery openings, 96 and98.

The liquid from each opening is directed slightly vdownwardly so as toimpinge upon the surface of the rail at points quite close to thenozzle.

In positioning the quencher over the rail joint,

the operator simply seats it on the rail ball, andv erator thennieves-thef- -quencher y vlongitudinally ofr the: rail-.untiL-the wedgeS-:engages-r the notch 23, 30, at which time by merely ieelftheoperatorknows that the nozzle is in exactly the right position.Y*lheswitch'energizing'the magnets is thenthrown and the quenchingoperation perfor-med; ordinarily under the' control of Ian automatictimer. Y. Y'

eMounted on the opposite sides of thelwater box '5&2 arejpairs. of.positioning fingers: l2', V22, and 'referring to Figureli, ld, the.last iingernot being shown. At thebOttOm ofeachlnger is a little lug.|26. The4 radii onwthe vupperl edgesoi therail .bal-ls cam the. lugs l 2outwardlyj against the-compressing spring actionifof the lingers; l2@ toI2@ which iingersthereby-perform the lateral positioning function whilethe longitudinal positioningifunction is performedfley the wedgefil.'

{Hav-ing thus describedmyinventioiL-what I claim as newand wislitosecure by-United'states Letters Patent is:

l. A rail end quencher comprising a frame, means connected to the framefor supporting said frame on the balls of two abutting rail ends in atrack joint, a single liquid delivery nozzle having oppositely,outwardly directed, substantially equally sized orices alignedlongitudinally of the rails and mounted on the frame with said oricesslightly above a line connecting the bottoms of the supporting means,and means on the nozzle for engaging the gap between two rail ends forquickly and accurately positioning the nozzle with respect to the railends.

2. A rail end quencher comprising a frame, means connected to the framefor supporting said frame on the balls of abutting rail ends in a trackjoint, a nozzle having oppositely, outward- 1y directed orices alignedlongitudinally of the rails and mounted on the frame with said oricesslightly above a line connecting the bottoms of the supporting means,and means for raising or lowering said nozzle with respect to the frame.

3. A rail end quencher comprising a frame, means connected to the framefor supporting said frame upon the balls of abutting rail ends of atrack joint, a liquid delivery pipe mounted on said frame with its axissubstantially vertical and reciprocable axially, a nozzle mounted on thedelivery pipe and having two oppositely, outwardly directed oricesaligned longitudinally of the rails and mounted on the frame with saidorices slightly above a line connecting the bottoms or" the supportingmeans, and a spring urging the nozzle downwardly against the rail,whereby the nozzle may freely engage the ball of the rail without beingalected by the frame supporting means.

4. A rail end quencher comprising a frame, means connected to the framefor supporting said frame upon the balls of abutting rail ends in atrack joint, a nozzle mounted on said frame and capable of Verticalmovement with respect thereto, said nozzle having a pair of oppositely,outwardly directed orifices aligned longitudinally of the rails andhaving like sized rectangular openings with the long side substantiallyparallel to the transverse top of the rail tread and the ilow directedalong the rail tread, and a wedge with its edge directed downwardlypositioned on the bottom of the nozzle with said edge transverse to thelength of the rails.

5. A rail end quencher comprising a frame, means connected to the framefor supporting said frame upon the balls of abutting rail ends in atrack joint, a nozzle mounted on said frame so thatl'iti can1niovefverticallylandfiiavingltwol op-l the! respective rails, a.substantiallyi:latfrbottom' onlt'henozzle havingi'a width dsuiiicienttoisspan the l gap between two abutting rail ends iin ma standard trackjointf-and' a downwardly Spro-` jecting -l-ug onthe bottom .ofi thenozzle' forlloosely'engagingthe gap between theltwol rails,wherebythe-nozzle 'will actasla damlagainstthe nov/ing of liquid down.`thef'vgap between thel two rail ends.

f6.- A rail end quencher' comprising a rectangular box havingfanopenbottom-.meansfraround the periphery `of the bottom'y for sealing-thexbottomf ofthe box to a'selected portioncfi the'. tread of each oftwo abuttingrail endsl in afrailE-joint within the plan dimensions-oftheboxga vertically movable nozzle disposed within-said'boxf,oppositely,v'outwardly directed, like sized orices in the base of saidnozzle aligned longitudinally of the rails 'and cooperating with therail for directing equal sized streams of water in a plane substantiallyparallel to that of the rail treads, and a liquid outlet at each end ofthe box at a level above the bottom of the box approximating that of thetwo orifices.

7. A rail end quencher comprising a box having an open bottom and aclosed top, a liquid inlet line mounted on said box, an adapter frameremovably attached to the bottom periphery of said box and having adownwardly directed seal, a vertically movable nozzle mounted on saidliquid inlet line, and guide means on the adapter frame for engagingsaid nozzle.

8. A rail end quencher comprising a box having an open bottom, means forsealing the bottom periphery of the box to a selected portion of thetread of each of two abutting rails in a rail joint, means within thebox and cooperating with the rails for directing oppositely, outwardlytwo substantially equal streams of Huid substantially parallel to therail treads toward the respective box ends, means for removing the fluidfrom the box, and electromagnetic means mounted on the box andengageable with the rail balls for compressing the sealing means betweenthe bottom periphery of the box and the rail balls to avoid loss offluid.

9. A rail end quencher comprising a frame, electromagnets suspended fromsaid frame and adapted to support said frame on the ball of a rail, abox having an open bottom and mounted movably in a vertical line beneathsaid frame, sealing means around the open bottom periphery of said boxfor engaging the tread of each of two abutting rails in a rail joint, avertically movable nozzle having oppositely, outwardly directed oriiicesaligned longitudinally of the rails and mounted Within said box, andmeans at each end of the box for withdrawing uid therefrom.

' 10. A rail end quencher comprising a frame, electromagnets suspendedfrom said frame and adapted to support said frame on the ball of a rail,a box having an open bottom and mounted movably in a vertical linebeneath said frame, sealing means around the open bottom periphery ofsaid box for engaging the tread of each of two abutting rails in a railjoint, a vertically movable nozzle having oppositely directed oricesmounted within said box, means at each end of the box for withdrawingiiuid therefrom, and a pair of downwardly projecting iingers, eachfastened on one side of the box, and having their lower ends engageablewith the side walls of the rail balls for centering the box laterallywith respect to the rail.

11. A rail end quencher comprising a frame, electromagnets suspendedfrom said frame and adapted to support said frame on the ball of a rail,a box having an open bottom and mounted movably in a vertical linebeneath said frame, sealing means around the open bottom periphery ofsaid box for engaging the tread of each of two abutting rails in a railjoint, a vertically movable nozzle having oppositely directed oricesmounted within said box, means at each end of the box for withdrawingthe fluid therefrom, a pair of downwardly projecting fingers, eachfastened on one side of the box, and having their lower ends engageablewith the side walls of the rail balls for centering the box laterallywith respect to the rail, and means mounted on the bottom of the nozzlefor engaging the gap between the rail ends.

f DANIEL G. KERWIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

